Back to School: Pupils, teachers and experts answer your questions as children get back to the classroom

For most children and parents, the return to school after the summer holidays is mixture of excitement and apprehension. And even though current circumstances are extraordinary and things will be a bit different from usual, this year is no exception.

Across England, teachers and schools are looking forward to welcoming their pupils back safely and restoring a nurturing routine of education, wellbeing and social opportunity for children of all ages.

Take reassurance from a newbie secondary school pupil and her mum, headteacher and paediatric expert, all sharing the positives of getting set for a safe return to class...

In London, Cassie Buchanan, headteacher at Charles Dickens Primary School, Southwark, pictured above, has been putting safety first, following extensive Department for Education (DfE) guidelines to make sure that it was safe for children to return.

Buchanan’s returning pupils can look forward to bubbles: “Children in primary schools won’t be expected to socially distance from each other, because that's really hard when you're little,” she says. “The guidance has been focused on creating bubbles – the idea that you have a group of people, a bit like with your family, but this is a bigger group of people."

Charles Dickens Primary School class bubbles are 30 children on average. Not only will different play times will be in place throughout the day, but pupils will also have their lunch in their own bubble rather than with the whole school. And if a child in a bubble is a suspected Covid-19 case, parents can expect a reassuringly swift response.

“We have a special room, and if children have all the symptoms they can sit and wait with a grown up from their bubble,” Buchanan explains. “Then they'll go and get the test, and we're involved in the track and trace process so that we can act really quickly.”

With multiple safety measures in place, Buchanan is keen to stress the benefits about going back to school in September – and not just for her pupils. “We've really encouraged parents to look at the positives,” she says.

Her staff also can’t wait to get back. “Teachers want to teach, don't they? They want to be in a room with their pupils and see their faces. The teachers are so excited – they've been in their rooms, putting up their displays and sharpening pencils. It’s keeping them out of the buildings that’s the difficult thing. It’s lovely."

Eleven-year-old Lily Rushforth, left and main image, is making the leap to big school in September, leaving Outwood Primary Academy Littlewood Grange for Outwood Academy Shafton, both in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

“I'm feeling very excited,” she says. “They’ve done a VR tour, which has really made me worry-free. I’m not nervous about the virus at all.”

Lily’s mum, Clare, left and main image, is impressed with Outwood Academy’s multi-faceted approach making the school Covid-secure. “They've got really good hand hygiene [and] additional cleaning measures,” Clare says. “They're doing staggered start and finish times as well.”

The way in which the school has communicated with understandably nervous parents is also singled out for praise. “They sent out a Year 6 transitional website link for us to go on, and from that the children had a virtual tour around the school, showing them pictures of various teachers, and the leadership team there,” Clare explains. “They’ve also made a short video saying what measures they’d put in place. From a parent's point of view, I found that really helpful.”

Lily can’t wait to say goodbye to home schooling and hello to new and old friends next month. “I’m excited about making new friends and sometimes I might see my friends from primary in the corridor,” she says. “I'm really excited about the new experience, because it's high school – and everyone raves about high school.”

By her own admission, Clare has “absolutely no concerns whatsoever” about her daughter heading back to school, recognising the importance of a sociable classroom education.

“They need their education,” she says. “They need to get back to learning and back into a routine. I think it's so important that they get back and that they’re around children their own age. I know that the school does a lot regarding mental health as well, which I think is vitally important.”

Dr Elizabeth Whittaker, above, is a senior clinical lecturer in paediatric infectious diseases and immunology at Imperial College London, and on The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) expert advisory group for Covid-19.

Do you think reopening schools is the right move?

Yes, I do. In its own right Covid-19 it isn't a great risk to children – there are more annual child deaths from things like chickenpox, flu and road traffic accidents. But we don't stop our children going to school; we don't stop them getting in a car. The risks are within the realms of what we should be comfortable with for our children. The risks of not going to school are much more severe in terms of emotional, developmental and nutritional health.

Are the safety and hygiene measures in place in schools enough to keep children safe?

Yes, the risk is incredibly low. But parents have to be prepared to keep children at home if they are ill, and staff and parents need to know what to do if they spot symptoms. We also have to keep track of who has had contact with who, as this means we can act rapidly and keep things contained.

What has changed since schools closed in March?

In March, an exponential rise in cases was on the horizon and an emergency lockdown was needed to preserve the NHS and preserve our ability to look after people. The difference now is that we don’t think the numbers will rise exponentially and overwhelm services. But we are monitoring this and know how to respond.

What benefits are there to children going back to school?

The benefits are multi-fold: there are educational benefits, but also emotional and social development. Schools play an important role in identifying things like chronic illnesses, autism and mental health issues, plus it can help parents return to work and get the economy going, and that’s important because poverty is one of the worst considerations for health outcomes.

Is the advice the same for Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) children?

The number of children with serious illness from Covid-19 is so small that we can't come to any conclusions about ethnicity, and there isn’t an increase in severe cases associated with BAME children. So, yes, I think they should go back to school. Their parents may want to discuss with grandparents and elders in their society about keeping a good distance if they’re more vulnerable, but there is no reason to believe that BAME children are at greater risk of Covid-19.

Contact your child’s school, nursery or college directly to find out the measures in place for the new term. The information in this article is for England only